Olympics Help End Recession; Nissan to Unveil Rio 2016 Car; Chamunda Honored in Zambia

Olympics Help End U.K. Recession

Data released by the U.K.’s Office of National Statistics indicate the third quarter of 2012 ended the five-year recession, thanks partly to the London Olympics.

From July to September, the gross domestic product in Britain rose 1 percent.

However, the long-term boost for the economy may not be found. Ticket sales alone counted for 20 percent of the economic growth.

Other data released Thursday presented contrasting views to an Olympic economic bounce.

WPP, the world’s largest advertising firm, revised its annual financial projections after it said it won’t meet its revenue targets.

Expecting a bounce from the Olympics and other sporting events, WPP set a goal of 3.5 percent in revenue growth for the year. On the heels of its third quarter earnings, it revised annual growth to between 2 and 2.5 percent for the year. In a statement, the WPP said growth did not meet estimates due to money coming from existing budgets "particularly in the cases of the UEFA Championships and Olympics."

In the United States, media company Journal Communications says its profits for the third quarter were up nearly 75 percent.

"Broadcast revenue was up 25 percent, primarily driven by political and issue advertising, but also due to the successful summer Olympics on our NBC stations and core revenue growth," Steven J. Smith, chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

British newspaper websites have seen a massive drop-off in traffic following the Games. Every national website saw a decline in month-to-month traffic in September when compared to August.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations reports www.independent.co.uk is the worst hit, with daily unique visitors declining 15.95 percent in September to 763,685. Monthly unique visitors were down 15.7 percent to 16.3 million visitors.

FIFA World Player of the Year Nominees

Olympic medalists a plenty are in the running for FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year.

Eight of the 10 candidates announced Thursday reached the podium at London 2012, including four – Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach – from champions USA and three – Aya Miyama, Homare Sawa and Miho Fukumoto – from runners-up Japan.

Camille Abily of France, who finished fourth at the Games, and Brazil’s Marta, the reigning five-time World Player of the Year, round out the shortlist.

Captains and head coaches of women’s national teams as well as by international media representatives selected by France Football will decide the winner ahead of the Jan. 7 FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala in Zurich.

In the meantime, the men’s shortlist will be announced Monday.

Nissan to Unveil Rio 2016 Car

Nissan says it will reveal its first Rio 2016 automobile at the Sao Paulo automobile show later this month.

The limited edition version of the Nissan March will feature a Rio 2016 logo on the trunk and sides of the car and "an attractive equipment package," according to a statement.

Chamunda Honored in Zambia

IOC member Patrick Chamunda received the Order of Distinguished Service – First Division from Zambia’s president, Michael Sata. Chamunda was honored for his work as IOC member and president of the Zambian Olympic Committee.

"You’re one of the longest serving sports administrators in the country, having served in the National Sports Council of Zambia, Zambia Olympics, Commonwealth and All-Africa Games and been a board member of the International Olympic Committee since 1992," Sata said in his address, according to local media.

Public Ranks Sports Cities in New Index

Voting is open for the inaugural Sports Cities Index, presented by Around the Rings and TSE Consulting.

The comprehensive biannual ranking is built around a group of 50 cities selected through criteria such as staging recent and upcoming Olympics or other major multi-sport Games, hosting professional sports teams as well as organizing major championships or world-class events such as tennis Grand Slams and Formula 1 races.

Though the initial batch is already set, it’s up to the public to help sort them out 1 through 50 based on their perceptions of the cities as having hosted major events, having quality facilities and being healthy and active places to live.

An online survey open through Nov. 11 asks respondents four brief questions on those themes and then gives them the opportunity to suggest other cities for inclusion in future editions.

A group of 100 "TSE Survey Experts" drawn from international federations, National Olympic Committees, sports media and other influencers will also respond to the survey.

Answers from these experts will be combined with those from the general public to produce the final Sports Cities Index, to be released Nov. 16 at the City Events Conference in Lausanne. ATR subscribers will receive results via email Nov. 15 at 5 p.m. ET.

Written by Ed Hula III and Matthew Grayson.

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